Ghouta

Ghouta is an area composed of densely-populated suburbs to the east and south of the Syrian capital of Damascus, located in Rif Dimashq Governorate. Ghouta is therefore not a single town, but a region surrounding the city, located along the Barada River's oasis. Ghouta had a population of about 2,000,000 people prior to the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011; its people were typically conservative Sunni Muslims. The Ghouta suburbs have been struck by several years of violence between the Syrian Arab Army and pro-government militias on one side and moderate and Islamist Syrian Opposition rebels on the other, and it was the site of 2013 chemical attacks.